New Rumors of Overwatch on Mac Surface, but Blizzard Engineer Says Still 'No Plans' for Launch

[MacRumors]

New rumors surfaced this weekend suggesting Blizzard's first-person shooter Overwatch could be launching soon on Mac. A Reddit user on r/macgaming (via MacGamerHQ) managed to download an unlisted installer for Overwatch on Mac -- titled "Overwatch-Setup.zip" -- by apparently altering the download link for the PC version of the game available on the official Battle.net website.

The installer is properly signed by Blizzard and launches Battle.net -- an app that centralizes all of the player's Blizzard games into one place -- with Overwatch appearing in the "Games" tab. Redditor Heyoni shared a few images of Overwatch appearing in Battle.net on their Mac, but as of now the game is not able to launch and delivers an error message when "Play" is clicked.

Image via Heyoni on Reddit​

The Reddit thread discussing the news theorized the potential for this being a bug, or that it could be a hint for an upcoming announcement related to Overwatch's debut on Mac. Blizzard just wrapped up its annual BlizzCon event, in which it unveiled a new support class for Overwatch named Moira, a new map called Blizzard World, and a new character cinematic focusing on Reinhardt. During the event, no news was given regarding Overwatch expanding to Macs.

Unfortunately, a comment made by an Overwatch engineer in a new interview suggests Blizzard is still not planning on launching the game for Mac anytime soon. Tim Ford, the lead software engineer for gameplay systems on Overwatch, told Gadgets 360 that Blizzard has "no plans" of launching Overwatch on Mac. Ford said this is due to "several technology decisions" Apple has made on Macs, which make it "a little difficult" for Blizzard to create a Mac version of the game.

With Overwatch being available on the PS4, Xbox One, and Windows PC, it's one of the rare Blizzard games that's not on the Mac. It's odd considering that every other Blizzard title has graced Apple's line of computers. Ford explained why Overwatch will not be making it to the Mac.

"We have no plans of giving this game on the Mac," says Ford. "There are several technology decisions that Apple has made that has made it a little difficult for us to release Overwatch in the way we want it to be consumed, and that is why we haven't pursued it."

Before Overwatch launched in May 2016, Blizzard said a Mac version was not a priority because it was "just too challenging" at that point to support Apple's platform, due to the "technology behind Macs." Then, in May 2017, Blizzard vice president Jeff Kaplan said the company is keeping an "open mind" about bringing Overwatch to Mac gamers, it just needs the "priorities of our development process to line up with the capabilities of the platform."

As news of the Mac installer spread online, Polygon reached out to a Blizzard representative, who stated that the Overwatch development team has "nothing to announce at this time" regarding a Mac launch for the game. For now, Overwatch is available to play on Windows PCs, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.

Article Link: New Rumors of Overwatch on Mac Surface, but Blizzard Engineer Says Still 'No Plans' for Launch

 

[critter13]

maybe next year with a desktop refresh but i would be surprised to see it come out without a change in the mac lineup

 

[iRockMan1]

Overwatch is literally the only reason I ever boot into windows

 

[sniffies]

I would love Mac Surface, hopefully next year

 

[ChasSC-Mac-Guy]

That's ok, I still have "No Plans" for buying it.
[doublepost=1509915508][/doublepost]And they are full of **** anyway. Any Mac with Metal 2 support could run Overwatch no problem.

 

[richard4339]

My guess is like most larger development companies, they have automated build processes to prepare their installers. Probably have these for all their games.

 

[chucker23n1]

And they are full of **** anyway. Any Mac with Metal 2 support could run Overwatch no problem.

The engine probably doesn't support Metal. Given the time the game launched, odds are its engine was developed without knowledge of Metal, instead targeting Direct3D and OpenGL, which would've worked on macOS (but now isn't being optimized by Apple any more).

 

[69Mustang]

That's ok, I still have "No Plans" for buying it.
[doublepost=1509915508][/doublepost]And they are full of **** anyway. Any Mac with Metal 2 support could run Overwatch no problem.

Basically Blizzard is saying the time and talent investment is not worth it compared to the return on that investment. Hard to argue with that. With PC, Playstation, and XBox versions on the market, pretty much 95% of gamers are covered. 95% being a guestimate. Metal? None of the major houses care about Metal. Aspyr and Feral care about Metal and that's about it. Apple may want to invest some assets in Vulcan if they want to get serious about gaming. Either that or let Bootcamp continue to do the heavy lifting.

 

[jeanlain]

We have no plans of giving this game on the Mac," says Ford. "There are several technology decisions that Apple has made that has made it a little difficult for us to release Overwatch in the way we want it to be consumed, and that is why we haven't pursued it.

And what would these technology decisions be? Overwatch runs well on recent Macs with bootcamp, so it couldn't be hardware-related decisions.
As for software, I'd be very surprised if Metal 2 was not more than adequate for a game like overwatch. Plus, it's not as if Blizzard didn't want to use Metal. They've already ported two of their game engines.

 

[fokmik]

This is like asking Tim coook if they are working on the iphone plus oled 6.4”

 

[jeanlain]

Basically Blizzard is saying the time and talent investment is not worth it compared to the return on that investment. Hard to argue with that.

They've mentioned technology, not market share. If they think the Mac is not worth it, they should say it outright, rather than speaking vaguely about "technology decisions".

 

[-BigMac-]

Who cares at this stage though tbh. Nearly 2018 already and mac is MAYBE getting a 2016 game. Lel.

Mac gaming is a joke, and when a game arrives, its trash compared to its pc counterpart.

Apple has betrayed the gaming community for years and some people are just not about them 2 year waits.

*ex owner of 8 core map pro, countless macbook pros and imacs. Long time user. Lack of serious gaming focus has always veered me back to windows hardware.

 

[jeanlain]

Who cares at this stage though tbh. Nearly 2018 already and mac is MAYBE getting a 2016 game. Lel.

Mac gaming is a joke, and when a game arrives, its trash compared to its pc counterpart.

It's a joke partly because of gaming companies that don't put the effort. It's just a market share thing. Technologically speaking, the Mac is good for gaming.
And if Overwatch is a 2016 game, Dota 2 is a 2012 game.

 

[Regime2008]

Who cares at this stage though tbh. Nearly 2018 already and mac is MAYBE getting a 2016 game. Lel.

Mac gaming is a joke, and when a game arrives, its trash compared to its pc counterpart.

Apple has betrayed the gaming community for years and some people are just not about them 2 year waits.

*ex owner of 8 core map pro, countless macbook pros and imacs. Long time user. Lack of serious gaming focus has always veered me back to windows hardware.

That is the main reason keeping me from any OS aside from Windows. I literally have over 2TB of games, and I would hate to know that I could only play a handful, at most, on another OS.

 

[Appleaker]

So they’re still considering it but have no plans because of Apples poor graphics decisions (although this year showed a possible change in direction)?

 

[-BigMac-]

That is the main reason keeping me from any OS aside from Windows. I literally have over 2TB of games, and I would hate to know that I could only play a handful, at most, on another OS.

Not only that.. but you would be playing them at half the quality settings, and half the fps

 

[69Mustang]

They've mentioned technology, not market share. If they think the Mac is not worth it, they should say it outright, rather than speaking vaguely about "technology decisions".

It's better from a marketing standpoint to claim "technical reasons" -the best reasons- than to come out and say "Aint no money in Mac gaming".

It's a joke partly because of gaming companies that don't put the effort. It's just a market share thing. Technologically speaking, the Mac is good for gaming.
And if Overwatch is a 2016 game, Dota 2 is a 2012 game.

What's the business case for putting in that effort? Especially when the games, coded for PC, not only work on Macs in bootcamp, but works better than in native MacOS. Gaming and Apple don't need each other. They can continue the status quo 'til the heat death of the universe. But if Apple wants gaming to be better on it's platform, it's going to have to do something different, not gaming houses.

 

[jeanlain]

It's better from a marketing standpoint to claim "technical reasons" -the best reasons- than to come out and say "Aint no money in Mac gaming".

Well it doesn't prevent other companies from saying it. For instance, those behind PUBG have recently said Mac and Linux weren't worth the effort (even though the game uses UE4, which already has Linux and Mac versions).
[doublepost=1509921546][/doublepost]

What's the business case for putting in that effort?

The same business case that justified the development of all their previous games maybe? Methinks the team developing overwatch is a different one and its manager doesn't care about Macs.

 

[-BigMac-]

What's the business case for putting in that effort? Especially when the games, coded for PC, not only work on Macs in bootcamp, but works better than in native MacOS. Gaming and Apple don't need each other. They can continue the status quo 'til the heat death of the universe. But if Apple wants gaming to be better on it's platform, it's going to have to do something different, not gaming houses.

The thing is, Mac probably had a good chance to secure a larger chunk of the gaming community earlier on. But now everyone knows gaming on it is trash, and Apple is too far behind. As such its going to be a lot harder for Mac to convince the users that its for anything more than Angry Birds.

 

[jeanlain]

Not only that.. but you would be playing them at half the quality settings, and half the fps

Again, no. It doesn't have to be this way. Metal can compete with other APIs. Those who know how to port a game (i.e., Feral) have done an amazing job with Metal, and regularly port the most demanding games to the Mac.

 

[iReality85]

The obligation here isn’t on Blizzard. OpenGL, DirectX 12, and Vulkan are major standards. Apple chooses to go with Metal. That’s on Apple, not Blizzard.

Besides, it’s not like Blizzard is anti Mac. Most (all?) of their other games run on Mac. However, it’s important to keep in mind that the engines for those games (except for HotS) are also near a decade old at this point. To expect new games to run on Metal when the rest of the PC gaming industry centers around other more advanced standards isn’t realistic, IMO.

 

[Geohord]

Can you use Wine?

 

[jeanlain]

The obligation here isn’t on Blizzard. OpenGL, Direct X12, and Vulkan are major standards. Apple chose to go with Metal. That’s on Apple, not Blizzard.

Blizzard don't use Vulkan for their Windows games, so that's not a factor. I don't believe they use OpenGL either. And Apple cannot use DirectX. At least, Metal is modern API that is better suited than openGL for modern games and GPUs.
And BTW, Metal already existed more than a year before Vulkan and preceded DX12.

 

[-BigMac-]

Again, no. It doesn't have to be this way. Metal can compete with other APIs. Those who know how to port a game (i.e., Feral) have done an amazing job with Metal, and regularly port the most demanding games to the Mac.

but it doesnt. So yea.. rip mac games
[doublepost=1509923921][/doublepost]

The obligation here isn’t on Blizzard. OpenGL, DirectX 12, and Vulkan are major standards. Apple chooses to go with Metal. That’s on Apple, not Blizzard.

Besides, it’s not like Blizzard is anti Mac. Most (all?) of their other games run on Mac. However, it’s important to keep in mind that the engines for those games (except for HotS) are also near a decade old at this point. To expect new games to run on Metal when the rest of the PC gaming industry centers around other more advanced standards isn’t realistic, IMO.

this

 

[jeanlain]

but it doesnt.

Yes it does. Go ask the developers who know their stuff.

EDIT: Take a look. This is from someone who probably knows more about Metal than anyone at blizzard.

Screenshot 2017-07-15 13.28.46.JPG